RIT reports growth in sponsored research funding

Rochester Institute of Technology grew its sponsored research funding by close to 10 percent in fiscal 2013, topping $47 million in total funding.

The university released its sponsored research report Thursday, outlining the more than 400 new awards receive from a variety of state, federal, corporate and foundation sponsors. The total was a record for RIT, which has been making an effort to ramp up its grant applications.

“The National Science Foundation conducts investigator-initiated, peer-reviewed research and our awards have nearly doubled in the past five years,” said Ryne Raffaelle, RIT vice president of research and associate provost, in a statement. “This is an indicator of how RIT has matured as a research university.

“Plus our growth is impressive when you consider how highly competitive it is to secure research funding in the current fiscal climate.”

The total has allowed RIT to move from the top third to the top quarter of research institutions, as measured by research expenditures in the NSF’s annual Higher Education Research and Development Survey.

Look for a full report on RIT's sponsored research funding in Friday's print edition of the Rochester Business Journal.